RRND Email Full Text (Scheduled)


  • When Hegseth Says “Lethality” He’s Talking About Killing Iranian School Girls

    Source: CounterPunch
    by Dean Baker

    “I’m going to give our ‘Secretary of War’ a little credit. I will assume that even someone as openly bloodthirsty as Hegseth would not deliberately blow up a school building filled with little girls. But this tragic accident that led to the death of at least 165 Iranian girls between the ages of 7 and 12 was the direct result of Hegseth’s policy. The main point of the ‘woke’ rules of engagement that Hegseth has constantly derided, and told the military to ignore, is to prevent tragic accidents like the bombing of a girls’ school in the middle of the day. The rules are designed to try to minimize civilian casualties. This means reviewing designated bombing sites to make sure they are, in fact, military targets.” (03/16/26)

    https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/03/16/when-hegseth-says-lethality-hes-talking-about-killing-iranian-school-girls/

  • Weapons makers, foreign states lavish $32 million on US think tanks

    Source: Responsible Statecraft
    by Nick Cleveland-Stout & Ben Freeman

    “In 2024, top think tanks received over $25 million from foreign governments and $7 million from Pentagon contractors, according to the most recently available donor rolls. This figure is a conservative estimate, as about 40% of think tanks do not disclose any donors at all. These findings come from our newly updated Think Tank Funding Tracker, which now includes the top 75 foreign policy think tanks in the U.S. and tracks all of the foreign government, U.S. government, and Pentagon contractor money flowing to them. The top Pentagon contractor donor was Northrop Grumman, which gave over $1.1 million to think tanks in 2024. These same think tanks routinely promote ambitious new weaponry which benefit their donors.” (03/16/26)

    https://responsiblestatecraft.org/think-tank-funding-tracker/

  • The War Without an Exit: Why Quick Victories in Iran Are Illusions

    Source: Antiwar.com
    by Jenny Williams

    “The notion of a short and decisive war has always been a temptation for politicians. This notion holds a promise of quick victories, low costs, and clear triumphs. However, the course of history over the last few decades has indicated that wars do not always follow this pattern. The current conflict between the United States and Iran seems to be a clear manifestation of this reality, as the early indications of a quick victory are not supported by the fundamental realities of the conflict.” (03/16/26)

    https://original.antiwar.com/jenny_williams/2026/03/15/the-war-without-an-exit-why-quick-victories-in-iran-are-illusions/

  • Put out more flags?

    Source: Semafor
    by Ben Smith

    “As the Iran war dominates global economic calculations, media and social media alike, there’s one place where it’s been strangely absent: Washington, DC. The American capital in the second Trump administration has developed a bit of a devil-may-care, drink-with-lunch spirit captured in the Pentagon’s cheerily bellicose memes. Still, when I was in DC last week, I was surprised by the total absence of yellow ribbons, patriotic banners, or the usual wartime acknowledgements of fallen troops and the many others in danger. … During the Iraq War, yellow ribbons — showing support for the troops, if not the conflict — were ubiquitous, as were anti-war demonstrations. Then came the long global war on terror, which meant that the US was both constantly at war and never at war. Washington remembered Afghanistan, only briefly, when we withdrew. … The nation’s capital is, as always, a bubble, but it’s hard to see how this relative good cheer can last.” (03/16/26)

    https://www.semafor.com/article/03/15/2026/put-out-more-flags

  • Yes, Trump Can End This War

    Source: The American Conservative
    by Ryan Costello

    “With the Iran war going very poorly, President Donald Trump has given increasing indications that he is looking for an off-ramp. He made the mistake of listening to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and other hawks in the run-up to the war, and now their Pollyannish predictions have all fallen flat. Declaring victory and getting out as soon as possible is far and away the best option available. … Yet, ending the war is not as easy as simply declaring victory. Key Iranian figures have signaled that they are not seeking a ceasefire and intend to inflict sufficient pain to deter any future attack on Iran. … To avoid a Forever War consisting of repeated short conflicts, the U.S. should start thinking about how to stop Israel from dragging it into Mideast hostilities.” (03/16/26)

    https://www.theamericanconservative.com/yes-trump-can-end-this-war/

  • The Ghost of Ali Shariati Dances with the Epstein Empire

    Source: exile in happy valley
    by Nicky Reid

    “Two things happened the week before Trump finally decided to end his will-he-won’t-he relationship with regime change in Iran. The first is that Benjamin Netanyahu told the Donald that Israel was going to whack the Ayatollah with or without him and that the results would be identical either way. Iran would retaliate by dumping literal tons of drones on the American bases that encircle it throughout the region and Trump would be duty bound to prove his manhood with blood. The other telltale thing that happened that week was that evidence surfaced from the heavily redacted Epstein Files that appears to show multiple sources corroborating the failed lawsuit of Katy Johnson; an anonymous plaintiff who accused our current president of raping her with Jeffrey Epstein at his side and then threatening to murder her if she spoke.” (03/15/26)

    https://exileinhappyvalley.blogspot.com/2026/03/the-ghost-of-ali-shariati-dances-with.html

  • Don’t Bite the Hand That Feeds You

    Source: Foundation for Economic Education
    by Kimberlee Josephson

    “There is a peculiar irony in modern American consumer culture: we celebrate abundance, low prices, and convenience — until we decide to sue the businesses that make those things possible. Somewhere along the way, buyer beware — a principle as old as markets themselves — has been replaced with the belief that disappointment equates with legal injury. Disputes over marketing messages and lawsuits about the labeling of menu items shows that some patrons are eager to become plaintiffs. Recent skirmishes over chicken are a case in point.” (03/15/26)

    https://fee.org/articles/dont-bite-the-hand-that-feeds-you/

  • How McDonald’s “epic fail” turned into a surprise marketing win

    Source: Washington Post
    by Megan McArdle

    “Sure, we were laughing at him. But every reaction video or parody drove home the message that McDonald’s has a big new burger on the market, a message I’d never have heard if I hadn’t seen so many people making fun of the CEO. I would have eaten a Big Arch for dinner tonight — for research purposes, of course — if my column-writing duties hadn’t chained me to my desk. Such viral moments are marketing gold and at a bargain price — however much McDonald’s spent making that video, it probably only amounted to a fraction of the cost of producing a traditional ad, much less of blasting it into our consciousness in a prime time loop. Corporate America’s problem is that such moments are wildly unpredictable. If you want brand awareness on the cheap, you are dependent on the kindness (or more likely, unkindness) of strangers.” (03/15/26)

    https://archive.is/XjuTl

  • The Ethics of Limit

    Source: Center for a Stateless Society
    by Tommaso Biagi

    “Every civilization — flawless, perfect in composition and intention — exists atop a quiet contradiction: We love freedom. We suffer domination. We justify it as ‘necessary authority,’ ‘the public order,’ ‘the social contract.’ We accept prisons ‘for safety,’ wage labour ‘for development,’ psychiatric coercion ‘for health.’ It’s the same ball game. A minority suffers, the majority lives ‘better.’ But better for whom? The one screaming in agony and the one smiling in comfort do not feel the sum. No one consciousness feels the totality. The ‘greater good’ is the fiction written by those for whom it works.” (03/15/26)

    https://c4ss.org/content/61059

  • The Trouble with Trump’s Maritime Action Plan

    Source: Independent Institute
    by Caleb Petitt

    “The White House recently released America’s Maritime Action Plan (MAP) to revitalize America’s maritime industry. It proposes a variety of regulatory modifications, subsidies, government financing options, and fees to encourage domestic shipbuilding. Although it includes a wide variety of proposals, two of them, when taken together, show the Trump administration’s hostility to free trade, as well as a general naïveté about the plan. The first is the proposed ‘universal fee’ on foreign-built ships; the second is the proposed regulatory change to the definition of a ‘U.S.-built’ ship.” (03/15/26)

    https://www.independent.org/article/2026/03/15/the-trouble-with-trumps-maritime-action-plan/